Islamic religiosity and internet consumption: Evidence from Indonesia

The impact of religiosity on internet usage has been investigated in prior research. However, the relationship between Islamic religiosity based on the region and internet consumption has not been studied. To examine the relationship between Islamic religiosity and internet usage, we employ a number of Islamic schools, hajj applications, Islamic seminaries ( pesantren ), and mosques at the province level as indicators of religiosity. We do not use the number of Muslim people at the province level because it is a poor proxy for measuring the intensity of religiosity, as it is possible that some individuals who identify as Muslim nevertheless engage in behaviour that is inconsistent with Islamic teaching. We test our hypothesis in Indonesia, the country with the biggest Muslim population in the world, and find that provinces that are characterized by a higher level of Islamic religiosity have a lower level of internet usage. We argue that people who live in regions with a higher level of religiosity are more likely to believe that the internet holds values that might erode their religious values. Even after considering endogeneity problems, such as omitted variable bias and reverse-causality, our results remain consistent.